Wednesday, January 16, 2013

WRITERLY WISDOM: Lori Crusin Degman

It's that time again! Every Wednesday we will sneak a peek into the world of writing and publication. Today's author is someone I met over the past year and have discovered to be a very warm and generous spirit. You can find Lori Crusin Degman at her website (www.Loridegman.com) or her blog (www.Loridegman.blogspot.com). Take it away, Lori...

A Genre By Any Other Name

By Lori Crusin Degman

In
doing research for this post, I discovered the categories I had always thought
of as “Genres”, were really “Formats”. I figured, there must be a lot of
other writers who thought the same thing.
So, I would like to share with you the different formats and genres and
help you determine which are best suited for your style of writing.

First,
you need to determine in which format you prefer to write and then, within that
format, which genre appeals to you (many genres cross formats). Here is a
list of the different formats in children’s literature:

Format

Typical Length

Age Range

Content

Picture Book

32 pages;

less than 700 words

4 - 8

Text and illustrations used equally; main character is a child who
solves his/her own problem; concepts or events common to children

Early Reader

48 - 64 pages;

2 - 3 page chapters;

up to 1,500 words

6 - 9

Illustrations on every page but more “grownup” looking; events to
which children can relate

similar to young adult novels but written in free-style verse;
each poem should stand alone and capture a moment or scene

Once
you’ve decided which format you prefer, you need to determine which genre in
children’s literature best fits what you enjoy writing. To help you do
that, I’ve developed this short test.

Which
phrase would you most likely choose to complete this sentence:

Yesterday,
my friend and I . . .

A. climbed on our zongos and rode to the edge of floxium.

B.ate a steak and kidney
pie.

C.helped Paul Bunyon find
his ox.

D.spoke on the telephone
for the first time,” Thomas Edison announced.

E.landed on the planet
Neptune.

F.began this personal
journal.

G.signed up to fight
against the Yankees.

H.pulled out our iphones
to take pics of the cutest boy in school.

I.looked for clues at the
murder scene.

J.climbed off our horses
and mosied over to the saloon.

K.realized we have been
madly in love for years!

Match
your choice above to the genres below:

A. Fantasy

B.Poetry

C.Folklore

D.Nonfiction

E.Science Fiction

F.Biography

G.Historical Fiction

H.Contemporary Fiction

I.Mystery

J.Western

K.Romance

No
matter in which format or genre you write, there are basic rules that apply to
writing for children - though rules are made to be broken so don’t feel
compelled to follow them to the letter:

Your story needs an arc - a clear
beginning that sets up a problem for the main character, a middle in which
the main character makes attempts to solve the problem (usually three
attempts), and a satisfying ending in which the main character finally
solves the problem.

Read as many books as you can in
your genre - not to imitate, but to learn what types of things work well
and what things you should avoid doing - based on your reactions to the
books you’ve read.

Be ready to rewrite,
reword, revise!

Lori Degman is a teacher of Deaf/Hard of Hearing students by day and a writer of picture books by night, weekend and school holidays. She lives in a northern suburb of Chicago with her husband and two dogs. Her picture book, 1 Zany Zoo was the winner of the Cheerios New Author Contest and a mini version was distributed inside 2.2 million boxes of Cheerios. The hardcover was published by Simon & Schuster in 2010. 1 Zany Zoo won the Mother's Choice Award - Gold Level for Picture Book Humor in 2012 and has been nominated for the 2012-2013 South Carolina Picture Book Award.

27 comments:

WOW! Talk about your Writerly Wisdom! Thank you for formatting a breakdown of the various kidlit genres. Knowing where you work "fits" or "belongs" can be comforting. I love the advice of creating a character that stirs emotional connections. I've gotten the same advice from Susanna Hill and have endeavored to do just that. I think this is the area that blurs my vision. Yet, I know if I can connect with my character(s), others may too. I just love this community. The learning and growing continues. And I whole-heartedly thank you.

Hi Penny! I'm so glad I thought of this series and I am sooooo grateful to all the wonderful guest bloggers who have committed to this next year. Talk about a fabulous resource for new and established writers!

As Ms. Martin might know (or anyone, for that matter) I would like to write a mystery (probably a murder mystery). I love Sherlock Holmes. I like looking through magnifying glasses. Perfect for a mystery! Wait. Where's my mouse? I can't post this with out the computer mouse! Who stole it? I know what to do! Read Holmes' books!

Hi Mia and welcome to my blog! I'm so glad you found Lori's post helpful. There will be many more wonderful authors and writers coming for a visit on my writer's series so make sure to check out next week's post!